Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when does he expect to be able to answer named day Question 105652 submitted on 14 January 2026 on the Ajax programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I will respond to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Members Estimate Committee, how much Representative Money has been made available to elected Members who have not taken the Oath in each year between 2023 and 2025.
Answered by Nick Smith
This information is available from the Library. Appendix 3 of the House of Commons Library briefing on Short Money (opens in a new tab) provides data from 2005/06 onwards.
WPQ 74628, answered on 16 September 2025, provided Representative Money allocations from 2005/06 onwards, shown separately as the main budget and travel budget. Total allocations, including the travel budget, since 2022/23 are as follows:
Financial Year | Main Budget | Travel Budget | Total |
2022/23 | 171,032.15 | 4,239.21 | 175,271.36 |
2023/24 | 188,991.69 | 4,688.33 | 193,680.02 |
2024/25 | 201,342.76 | 5,796.44 | 207,139.20 |
2024/25 pre-election (1 April–3 July) | 50,618.04 | 1,255.14 | 51,873.18 |
2024/25 post-election (4 July–31 March) | 150,724.72 | 4,541.30 | 155,266.02 |
2025/26 | 208,077.31 | 6,252.97 | 214,330.28 |
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Sport England on expanding the Physical Activity Clinical Champions pilot.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Physical Activity Clinical Champions Programme was developed by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities, part of the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside Sport England. The programme is designed to equip healthcare professionals with the skills to discuss the importance of physical activity with patients who have health conditions. This supports the delivery of the Government’s 10-year Health Plan and fosters greater collaboration between the health, sport and physical activity sectors.
Since 2023, the programme has been led by a consortium of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Intelligent Health and Sheffield Hallam University. An update on the future of the programme is due shortly.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with her US counterpart on the potential merits of establishing pre-clearance facilities for US bound travellers at an airport in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
A decision to explore the introduction of US pre-clearance at a UK airport is primarily a commercial decision for airport operators. An outline commercial agreement between an airport operator and US authorities would be required before any formal discussions between the UK and US governments could take place, however we stand ready to negotiate should this be forthcoming.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of changes in levels of (a) maladministration and (b) corruption involved in the onsite distribution of the overseas aid budget between 2020 and 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) actively monitors and manages fraud, bribery, corruption and error risks across its Official Development Assistance (ODA) portfolio through a range of controls, reporting mechanisms and ongoing risk assessments. Available estimates in this area can be found in the section on fraud at pages 167-169 of the FCDO's 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts, and in equivalent sections in previous years' reports.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2026 to Question 106949 on Oil: Sanctions and with reference to the meeting with Irish Ministers on 3 December 2025, whether she received an offer of support in countering Russian aggression at that meeting.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As stated in my answer to Question 105155, the UK and Ireland are jointly committed to deepening our security and defence cooperation on the full range of threats facing both our countries. That includes countering Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Foreign Affairs Minister in the Irish Republic on joint action to tackle international drug trafficking into the UK via the Irish Republic.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK and Ireland have a strong relationship which includes joint action against criminals targeting both the UK and Ireland.
In addition to these operational relationships, there is an annual security dialogue between the UK and Ireland to discuss key shared security issues faced. This includes discussions on international serious & organised crime, with the last one taking place in November 2025.
In January 2026, the UK formally invited Ireland to join the North Sea Channel Maritime Information Group. This group facilitates the cooperation and exchanging of information about maritime border security topics, including information around the movement of drugs. Existing members include Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much on average was invested in Government Bonds by Retail Investors in January (a) 2023 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not hold data on the average amounts invested in gilts by retail investors; however, the government welcomes participation from a broad and diverse range of gilt market investors, including retail buyers.
The Office for National Statistics publishes aggregate holdings in government bonds by different investors, which can be found using the following link - https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/ukeconomicaccountsjulytoseptember2025
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her European Commission counterparts on border controls for the import of high-risk plants in the context of the 10 remaining species of plants on the EU's prohibitions list.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2021 Defra has worked with the horticultural industry to submit 48 market access applications (including multiple species within the same genera) for the most widely traded High-Risk Plants, 40 of which have now resulted in the adoption of EU import requirements allowing the export of these species to resume to the EU. The industry has been consulted on a regular basis to ascertain the species of interest, as industry’s cooperation and input have been paramount in completing the relevant applications. Following the announcement of the intention to negotiate an SPS agreement with the EU and after consultation with the industry, work has been paused on further applications, in the expectation that under the agreement the High-Risk Plant prohibitions for third countries would no longer be applicable to the UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Government protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
Wider business support is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive’s Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution and they receive over 24% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK in all years of the Spending Review 2025 period (2025-26 to 2028-29).